Perspectives on the World Christian Movement is a course designed to help everyday believers, of any age or vocation, envision the fulfillment of God’s global purpose among all peoples and see how they can find a fruitful place in God’s great purpose.
This book, known as the Reader, was designed to be used with the companion Study Guide as the curriculum for the course. The Study Guide provides a pathway through the many articles, assigning different parts and pages in a sequence that guides students through the material.
The Perspectives course surprises many who expect it to be a course about the challenging difficulties of mission efforts. Some expect it to make them feel the great weight and burden of the boundless needs of the world. Instead, they taste the joy of a God-imparted global hope. They find themselves stepping into the great story of the living God relentlessly pursuing His purpose to bring loving worship to Himself from and among every people on earth. It is indeed a love story. Yes, God loves the world, but His ultimate goal is to be served in love by the full family of the nations.
The course helps students see God at work with His people in an overarching story that encompasses all peoples and places. The curriculum follows God at work through the many stories and statements of the Bible. Instead of the events of the Bible merely teaching us how to behave, the same stories, seen along with the promises, prophecies, and prayers, reveal what God will most certainly accomplish with His people.
The Biblical section introduces this great story. The Historical section continues that same story as it has been unfolding to the present day. The Cultural and Strategic sections explore how God’s people have been able to intro-duce the gospel in different cultures. These sections do not present methodologies but rather explore case studies of how people have worked with God to see Jesus followed faithfully in different cultures and social settings.
The Perspectives course began in the United States, with the first edition of this Reader being published in 1981. As the course was refined and enhanced in later editions, church and mission leaders from other countries began to establish similar study programs in their countries. There are now growing Perspectives Study Programs in over thirty coun-tries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, with new programs in formation every year. In each case, the initiative, leader-ship, and ownership of the study programs have remained in the hands of local leaders.
Mission leaders from the Global South have been enlisted as instructors in most of these study programs, bringing a wealth of insight and practical wisdom. More than ever before, this edition of Perspectives includes ideas, stories, and articles from diverse languages and lands.
The fourth edition of the Perspectives Reader and Study Guide was translated and published in eight languages in addition to the original English: Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Thai, Portuguese, Indonesian, Arabic, and French. This fifth edition will be translated into more languages.
Ralph D. Winter (2008)
Steven C. Hawthorne (2025)
Pam Arlund (2025)